Posts made in November, 2014

Literature Studio is delighted to announce the first Writers’ Circle, to be held on November 29, 2014 from 2-6 pm. You can join the circle at the following venue: D-84, First Floor, Sector-41, Noida (Near City Centre Metro Station and Millennium School) For directions, call +91 9818566774. ***** Writers’ Circle is a support group for writers who wish to be among like-minded people. If you are writing a book, and wish you had friends who would critique it objectively and constructively, this circle is for you. If you want to start writing and are looking for inspiration, this circle is for you. If you wish to be able to share your work fearlessly without the fear of being judged, this circle is definitely for you. To begin with, we will organize one Writers’ Circle every month, and will gradually increase the frequency as we feel the need. Tea and cookies will be complementary during the session. We wish to keep the circle small, so please make sure that you pre-register through BookMyShow. We may not be able to accommodate all walk-ins. For details of the venue, call +91 9818566774. Facilitating the circle will be Vibha Malhotra, the Founder of Literature Studio. She has considerable experience editing both fiction and non-fiction books. HOW BIG WILL THE CIRCLE BE: Around 10 people per session. CONTACT DETAILS: Literature Studio: Phone number: +91 9818566774 Email: info@literaturestudio.in ARE THERE ANY CHARGES: There will be a nominal fee of Rs. 250 per session....

Well, it’s not only Fiction Friday, it is also Children’s Day. Literature Studio wishes all it’s readers, followers, contributors, and of course students a very Happy Children’s Day. And on this day, we present to you a short story titled “Ryan” written by our student Shreya Pothula. So here goes: ************** Ryan Ryan deboarded the bus and looked around. The same old school, the blinds falling off like always, the field free of bloodsucking leeches for once. He smiled. Ryan was happy to be back after two months. He turned around and found himself looking straight into John’s face, and that was enough to wipe the smile off his face. John, on the other hand, was grinning in a rather horrifying manner. “Oh, so you’re back? I thought two years of torture were enough. Well, I don’t mind dealing with nerds for three years in a row.” “Please,” said Ryan timidly as John cornered him against the boundary wall. John clenched his fist, but before he could punch Ryan, Mr. Rajesh intervened. He was their Science teacher. “Good morning children!” said Mr. Rajesh. “Good morning Sir!”exclaimed both the boys. Mr. Rajesh handed out some pamphlets to them. “I would love it if you students could take part in this year’s Inter-school Science contest and win the trophy! Ryan, think about it,” Mr. Rajesh gave Ryan a meaningful look and walked away. A few minutes later, Ryan was sitting in the Art class. The Art teacher was yet to arrive and as usual everyone was shouting on the top of their voices. But Ryan sat in his chair and stared at the paper that contained the details of the contest. He looked around, and was glad to find that John wasn’t in his division this year. He heaved a sigh of relief and, grabbing a pencil, started drawing a picture of a boy holding a big trophy, with the words “SCIENCE CHAMPION” carved on it in bold letters. During the snacks break Ryan left his snack box unopened and ran off to find Mr. Rajesh. Ryan found him in the cafeteria with his colleagues. All of them were laughing. Perhaps a teacher had cracked a joke. Ryan went up to them and cleared his throat. Mr. Rajesh didn’t hear him. “Excuse me, Sir,” Ryan said. This time he managed to catch Mr. Rajesh’s attention. The teacher seemed surprised to see Ryan there. “Well, Ryan!” he asked, “What are you doing here, child? Shouldn’t you be having your snacks now?” “That’s okay Sir, I’m not hungry,” Ryan said, looking the teacher in the eye. “Actually, sir, I came to get the form for the science competition.” “Oh, that!” Mr. Rajesh still looked surprised. It wasn’t too often that a student missed the snacks and came running after him for something academic. “I was anyways planning to bring a few forms to your class during the Science period today. I will hand one over to you then. Don’t worry,” he smiled. “Now go back. Your snack break’s almost over.” And sure enough Mr. Rajesh remembered to bring a form to the science class, and handed it over to Ryan first thing, even before scribbling the topic of the day on the blackboard. Ryan carefully folded the form and placed it in the first compartment of his school bag. Ryan rang the bell a hundred times till his mom opened the door with an annoyed face. She started, “Ryan! What were you trying to do?! What’s wrong…” “Nothing is wrong Ma! Everything’s going just right!” He dropped his backpack on the...

We are back in town after having a wonderful time at the Te Aroha – Literature Studio Writers’ Retreat. While an official recap of the event will be produced in due time, we just wanted to bring out some aspects of the Retreat that stood out, and also take the opportunity to thank everyone involved. The Retreat for us was made special when the following happened: The participants quickly warmed up to each other, and with only a few hours into the Retreat, we were soon talking, laughing, pulling each others’ legs, and generally having fun. Amid the lighter moments, several sincere insights were shared and relevant topics discussed. I guess this is bound to happen when people who are so invested in their crafts get together. The staff of Te Aroha made our stay most comfortable with their constant smiles and eagerness to help in any way possible. All events and panel discussions generated quality content. Our hand-picked mix of diverse participants in terms of gender, age-group, nationality, genre, language, form, profession, all magically fell in place and fitted in perfectly like pieces of jigsaw. Everyone shared freely. We benefited immensely from their experience and insights. When we received signed copies of Charu’s O degree, even though he himself wasn’t able to attend the Retreat. Preeti Shenoy and Charu Nivedita were missed immensely. We hope to run into them soon on other platforms. All in all, the event was an enlightening experience. We wish to thank the following for their active participation and contribution. Amir Or, Geet Chaturvedi, Kiran Manral, Kulpreet Yadav, Chef Michael Swamy, Sudeep Sen, Vineetha Mokkil, Maulshri, Rashmi Nambiar, Saritha Rao, Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, Vikas Vijayovich, and Anil Nakhasi — all of you added a different spice. Thanks a lot for being you throughout the Retreat....